Local takes on the Munga challenge for Thembalami Care Centre

Local resident Sean Wheeler will take on the Munga challenge to raise funds for Rand Aid’s Thembalami Care Centre.

Spokesperson of Rand Aid Cathy Grosvenor said, “The Munga looms and only the toughest manage to crack this 1 000km single stage race across the middle of South Africa in the heat of summer.”

The 52-year-old Sean took part in the Munga in 2016. He said, “It was definitely the hardest thing I had ever done in my life. It was life-changing and taught me to appreciate how powerful our mind is and that age is really just a number.”

As was the case in 2016, this year’s Munga challenge is in aid of Rand Aid’s Thembalami Care Centre just outside of Johannesburg, which has been Sean’ father Mike’s home for the past six years.

“If I wasn’t riding for a worthy cause in 2016, I would never have been able to have completed the race. Eighty-nine of us started and only 38 finished,” he added.

The Munga starts in Bloemfontein on 28 November and ends in Wellington in the Cape Winelands on 3 December. The route is predominantly off-road and covers some of the most beautiful and barren terrain in South Africa.

The format of the event allows riders to decide when they eat and sleep, and for how long. They have only 120 hours to finish before the cut-off time.

Grosvenor said, “He [Sean] has tackled a number of endurance events in the past few years, including the East Rand to East Coast ride, which raised R30 000 for Thembalami, but prior to 2003, when he started cycling, his main form of exercise came from racing off-road enduro motorcycles, which he only started doing in his 30s.”

Sean is currently doing fundraising for Thembalami Care Centre with an overall goal of R30 000 through BackaBuddy. His campaign has already raised R11 760,20 as of the end of October.

Anyone who would like to donate to Sean’s cause can click here.